A large portion of vehicles are now equipped with air conditioning devices, regardless of the type of motorization of the vehicle. Conventionally, such a device comprises an air conditioning unit driven by the engine of the vehicle or by a dedicated electric motor, as well as elements for recovering heat from the engine of the vehicle (in the case of an internal combustion engine) or generally electric heating elements. An air flow drawn from inside the car interior or from outside the vehicle is directed through a heat exchanger allowing calories to be added to or taken away from this air flow. The heated or cooled air flow is then directed to various outlet points of the vehicle through a network of air distribution ducts. In order to direct the air flow, mix hot and cold air, switch from a heating system to a cooling system, or regulate the flow rate of the airflow at each of the outlet points, air flaps placed at various points in the network of air distribution ducts. The position of these air flaps is generally controlled by electromechanical actuators.
Usually, such an actuator comprises an electric motor whose drive shaft is provided with a worm screw. This worm gear meshes with the first toothed wheel of a gear train transmitting, to within one gear ratio, the rotation of the drive shaft to an output component of the actuator. The output component, generally a toothed wheel, a splined shaft or any other connector capable of transmitting a rotation, interacts with a homologous component integral with a rotational axis of the air flap.
Such an actuator is packaged in a parallelepiped housing resulting from the assembly of two half-housings which each comprise bearings that guide in rotation the shafts of the toothed wheels of the gear train. The output component of the actuator protrudes from one of the faces of the housing, in a direction perpendicular to that of the output shaft of the electric motor. The housing also comprises means for locking the electric motor in rotation, often performed by means of plane surfaces bearing on flats made on the casing of the motor. This requires special machining.
Such an actuator has several disadvantages, notably regarding production cost, overall dimensions and ease of assembly.
In addition, the housing must be provided with means for counteracting its rotation with respect to the support of the flap, which is generally achieved by means of screws passing through the housing so as to bite into the plastic material of the flap support.